MCUX 10.2.1 - Debug launch freezes at 2% for about a minute

So this isn't a new problem with 10.2.1... to my recollection, this problem has existed for a few months at least. The issue is that whenever I do a debug launch (green bug), on the bottom status bar, I see "Launching foo_bar ... Debug: (2%)" with a short green progress bar, and it just strobes away for a minute or two while the Console window is blank. Nothing else seems to be happening in the IDE while it's at 2%. After this lengthy delay, it finally jumps to 6%, does a build prior to launch, usually there's nothing to do for the build, and then it goes to launch GDB. Happens with both PEMicro and SEGGER debug launches, and happens with each of two different Kinetis projects I'm currently working on.

The only time this doesn't happen is if this is the first time I've launched the debugger since starting MCUX. In that case, clicking the green bug makes the progress go immediately to 6%, the pre-launch build happens, and then the debugger starts. If I then terminate the debugger, and then click the green bug again, it sits at 2% for another minute or so, then goes to 6%, does the build, etc.

This is a bit of a productivity killer, having to wait a couple of minutes for no good reason each time I do a debug launch. Any idea what's causing this pause where seemingly nothing is happening in the IDE?

This is not an issue that we have seen. You mention using the "green bug" though. Does this mean that you have created your own launch configuration files?

Generally with MCUXpresso IDE, you should use the "QuickStart Panel -> Debug" option to start debug sessions - which should generate an appropriate launch configuration automatically. Please see chapter 4, "Debug Solutions Overview" in the MCUXpresso IDE v10.2 User Guide for more details.

It might be worth you terminating any debug sessions you have running (and also click on the "Clean up Debug" button on the main toolbar to make sure that no debug tasks are still running in the background). The deleting any launch configurations already in your project. And finally, then use the "QuickStart Panel -> Debug" option, and seeing if that makes any difference to the debug start up behaviour that you are seeing.

Apologies for the late reply, been frying bigger fish. So, I tried using the "blue bug" (QuickStart panel debug launch) instead of the "green bug". Same result... first launch after starting MCUX goes right to 6%, rebuild starts, off to the debugger. Any subsequent launch, the progress sits at 2% for a minute or two, then goes off and does its thing.

Can you tell me what MCUXpresso is actually doing in the steps before launching the rebuild of the project? The big problem here is that I'm basically blind; when it's sitting at 2%, I have zero information about what the system is actually doing (though MCUX is consuming some amount of CPU during this time). I don't see any other process spiking my CPU or I/O usage (including antivirus... see below).

Can you check/disable your virus scanner/firewall if this has an impact?

I have seen such a thing on some student machines in my university classes: the virus scanner (the Avast one seems to be one doing this kind of things) tries to check on an internet data base if the debugger could be a virus and delays things up to several minutes. So disabling (or better: uninstalling) such a bad scanner solved the issues.

I tried disabling ESET Endpoint Antivirus for a duration of time, but it had no effect. When the progress is sitting at 2%, if I have Task Manager open, I can see that MCUX is consuming some appreciable amount of CPU (less than 10%), and I don't see antivirus or any other process spiking during that time. It's just frustrating to have to burn a minute or two every time I click the debugger. (I know, I should just write bug-free code instead.)

Nope, nothing like that installed or running. This is just a regular Windows 10 Pro workstation with an SSD. First debug after starting MCUX goes off fine, second and subsequent debugs encounter the delay. It's done this for a while (like, last several months), can't precisely remember what version of MCUX it started with.

I'd suggest using Process Explorer or Process Monitor from Microsoft to have a good look at what is happening during the hang. This will give more information than just running the standard Task Manager.